Lab Rats

We were fortunate enough to have a meeting with Ascend last night, and a good chat about some of the work they do behind the scenes. Ascend is an Australian owned product, produced by the Murray Valley co-op, who are the people behind Devondale so you start to get the idea about the scope with which we are dealing. Funnily enough, for once size is working in our favour!

Ascend are determined to release the highest quality product into the market place, and as such are doing testing far beyond what I have heard of before! An example we spoke about last night referred to the Protein Catalyst and its reaction at a genetic level in the body. They managed to conclusively and scientifically prove that the Protein Catalyst actually 'switches on' the growth function in muscles cells, through using DNA testing on muscle biopsies taken from athletes! Testing was carried out by Deakin Uni, and the Uni of SA.

To quote their words:

"To provide you with an assurance of the benefits of ASCEND Elite proteins, their efficacy has been proven in scientifically robust human clinical trials by independent internationally recognised sports physiologists and biochemists at Deakin University, Melbourne, and University of South Australia, Adelaide.

ASCEND Elite proteins were identified during the discovery phase of our research program where more than 600 highly specialised milk fractions were prepared and analysed. Screening for biological activity using living, mammalian cells focussed on muscle development and recovery."

Now to clarify also, all this talk about muscle gain etc, is actually extremely relevant to cyclists, as we use up so much energy that we are actually losing muscle mass at the same time, something that I'm sure a lot of us can't spare. So by using a high quality supplement, we can provide out bodies with the proteins it needs to continue building on all the good riding we do, rather than slowly going backwards.

In terms of a high quality product, I don't see how you'd go any better, but the things that excite me even more, as we really like shiny new stuff, was the single serve products (drinks, bars, protein packs). We looked at a new single serve pack for both muscle and recovery, which is resealable yet crushable so you can use it on the go. The new sports drinks are also in prototype stage which we tested on the weekend, with really great results. No salty taste, yet not too sweet nor do they leave your mouth feeling dry. And with the Muscle and Recovery bars due for an official release later in the year, its all going very well! So there is a full range coming along, but in the meantime, we have plenty of samples that we would love you to try, so if you see us around, please have a chat to us and we can hook you up.

We've got a few other little stories about Ascend, so there will be plenty of material to come! Think ultimate cage fighters, boxers, WA beaches, bikes, and massages, and thats somewhere near where we'll be taking you...! We're excited to be a part of a new range of products that is being produced, researched, developed and improved right here in Victoria, lock stock and barrel! Its the real deal, folks.

Finally, talk is that there will be some kind of Felt Epix/ Ascend discount scheme getting put in place for a limited time, so if you would like to try Ascend products at a discounted price, we'll post up details soon.